2013 Draft Scouting Reports Part One

The first and second rounds of the 2013 MLB Draft will be on Thursday June 6th. The Reds will be drafting three times that day: 27th, 38th and 67th. When you draft this late in the first round, it is awfully hard to peg who exactly will be available to choose from, much less who a team will choose. Over the next week and a half, I will look at the guys ranked in the 20-40 range on the Baseball America top draft prospects list and give stats (when available), scouting reports and even video (when available).

Nick Ciuffo – Catcher – Lexington High School (South Carolina)

Coming into his senior season there were some real concerns that Ciuffo couldn’t remain at catcher in the long run, but he has shown improvements to the point that fewer and fewer are concerned as he has shown off a good ability behind the plate this year to catch and throw. At the plate the left handed hitter has shown off a good hitting ability and projects to have solid power. To this point, the Reds have not been linked to him in a mock draft.

Phillip Ervin – Outfield – Samford

Ervin is a short, but athletic outfielder who has played center and left field in college. He is an above-average to plus speed guy who could play all three outfield positions depending on the team needs. Offensively he has above-average power potential and scouts love his swing. If you watch the video, you can see how short and quick it is to the ball. The Reds have yet to be linked to him.

Year

AB

H

2B

3B

HR

RBI

BB

K

SB

CS

AVG

OBP

SLG

2011

213

79

15

2

4

41

7

1

25

28

.371

.440

.516

2012

260

85

18

1

10

52

23

39

16

5

.327

.406

.519

2013

196

66

14

2

11

40

39

25

21

2

.337

.459

.597

Rob Kaminsky – Left Handed Pitcher – St. Joseph High Regional High School (New Jersey)

Coming in at 5′ 11″ the lefty is a bit shorter than most first round caliber starting pitchers are, but he brings strong stuff to the table from the left side. He has an above-average fastball that can reach 94 MPH when it tops out and an above-average to plus curveball. He has a change up as well, but it is clearly his third pitch at this point. Perhaps the most advanced high school pitcher on the board, while he doesn’t have a ton of projection, there is a lot of stuff already there. The Reds have yet to be linked to him.

Overview

The Reds, like every organization, is always in need of catchers and Ciuffo seems like a pretty strong one. While the Reds seem to have quite a few guys fighting for playing time at the position at the rookie levels, Ciuffo would fill an organizational need and provide good upside. Phillip Ervin is a guy that you can sit back and dream on for what kind of player he could become. He has plus speed on the defensive side of the ball, meaning he could stick in center field and he has good tools at the plate where he could hit for average and some power. Rob Kaminsky is someone that I would be surprised to see the Reds take, as they often lean towards more prototypical “pitchers body” type of guys who are a little bit taller (they didn’t draft anyone under 6′ 1″ as a pitcher until the 35th round in 2012). As a lefty he would be welcome to a system that doesn’t have many left handed starters and it sounds like he could be a quick mover for a high school pitcher. Still, it would be a surprise given the Reds track record of drafting shorter pitchers early on in the draft.

About The Author

Doug Gray is the owner and operator of this website and has been running it since 2004 in one variation or another. You can follow him on twitter @dougdirt24, contact him via email here or follow the site on Facebook. and Youtube.

12 Responses

Nick Ciuffo could make sense here if they feel he can stick at catcher with the lack of depth. Our MLB roster is in pretty good shape with contracts and age, I would like to see them continue to take HS players with the most potential.

Cuiffo doesn’t look like he will make it to the Reds. As a solid all around catcher, those guys go fast. I don’t think Ervin will make it either as a guy who could be quicker to the majors with good tools. I agree that either one would be a good pick for the Reds.

I also agree that Kaminsky doesn’t seem like a Reds pick. I could see him sliding down the draft because a lot of teams put a lot of stock into height. Sonny Gray and Marcus Stroman are two guys that come to mind, although they were right handed. The Reds do have history with shorter guys like Leake and Wood, even Cueto and Corcino. But Leake and Wood were premium athletes as well, and I haven’t seen that about Kaminsky. Cueto, Corcino, Travieso, and Stephenson all have strong builds and Kaminsky looks smallish. Adding a lefty with a good fastball is always nice, but he just doesn’t scream Reds to me.

Doug, while I know you will get to Austin Wilson in a couple days, fangraphs has up a good article about him today. And it addresses a common misconception about him. BA has in their scouting report that he has racked up big K numbers in college. Yeah, his freshman year. Since then he has much improved. I can’t see him getting past the Phillies or White Sox. They love tools.

I hope the Reds stick with their strategy to draft someone in 1st round under the recommended slot value. Especially with the Competitive Balance pick at #38, they can potentially add 2-3 1st round guys by spreading out the money. Continuing to add depth to system in rounds 1-5 at key positions (SP, SS, C, CF) is the most important part of any draft.

Agreed. Tim Anderson is my #1 preference at pick 27. If not, would take a pitcher. Would even take Oscar Mercado at 38. Add two players that can stick at SS. Toughest defensive position to fill and largest organizational need.

If we take a prep middle infielder, you have to start thinking of the post Brandon Phillips era for 2B as well. Drafting one right now would give 4 full development years (19, 20, 21, 22, 23 in the bigs in 2018).

Yardbarker

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